About The Buzz & Submission Guidelines

NFTY Northeast Buzz is the online magazine of NFTY’s Northeast Region. The Buzz is updated regularly with articles, essays, photo galleries, art and other media produced by teens. Topics including school, politics, pop culture, Jewish learning, Israel, social action and more. Content is shared across North America as part of the network of NFTY Buzz sites.

This is a wonderful opportunity for you to be published!

We accept unsolicited submissions for consideration. Pieces that follow the formatting and style listed below are most likely to be published on the site, so please take time to read through these guidelines. Send submissions, along with biographical information (including any affiliation with a Reform congregation or institution) to nftyne@urj.org.

Length

Posts are optimally 300-800 words in length. Telling a story in fewer words that pack a compelling and powerful punch is always more successful in the online space than lengthy, wordy efforts.

Remembrances, whether personal memoirs or memorial tributes to those who have recently passed, or of long-gone figures of interest

A good blog post often includes a call to action, e.g. the end of a post lists ideas, poses a question, or asks users to post their own thoughts.

Style

Do not use underlines or all caps for any reason.

Linking is preferred to footnoting.

Avoid use of the words “click here” or “here” when linking to a referenced item. Instead, link to a relevant part of the sentence.

Wherever possible, link to cited sources and any material that is referred to, especially material that exists on any Reform Movement website.

Italicize transliterated Hebrew or other languages and include a translation of such words and phrases upon first mention.

Indent paragraphs of quoted material.

Editing

All posts that appear on NFTY’s Buzz and its affiliate blogs are edited for grammar, punctuation, style, and editorial flow. We occasionally will return a submission to its author to suggest changes, omissions, and/or additions that our editing team deems necessary to strengthen the post such that it may become appropriate for publishing on our blog(s).

Title and Bio

All submissions must include a suggested title, subject to modification by blog editors. A compelling title that is descriptive of the content of the post will garner more readers. Additionally, all posts should be signed using the author’s real name. A one- or two-line bio should be supplied with the author’s title, position, or affiliation, if pertinent.

Images

Reproducing copyrighted material is not permitted. Photos may only be used if you have rights to use them or have received written permission from the copyright owner. Photos on Flickr that use the Creative Commons licensing agreement may be used with a credit, as per the Creative Commons rules. Our editors may add appropriate photos or other graphics at their discretion.

Video

Videos that have been posted on YouTube or Vimeo may be embedded in a blog post without permission from the original poster.

Terms and Conditions

Posts must comply with the URJ’s Terms and Conditions, which generally state that any material that is defamatory or violates the rights or privacy of others in any way is not permitted, and that our editors have the right to remove material that is deemed as such.

Advertising

Posts should not read as advertisements, brochures, or marketing pieces for any event, program or offering, as such posts will discredit the integrity of the blog as a place for discussion of Reform Jewish issues. Instead, if you are seeking to promote an event, program or other offering, choose a topic that is related to it, expound upon it, and mention/link to the product you are promoting at the end of the piece.

RJ.org is a place for describing new initiatives, especially the trends and events that may have led to their development. First-person perspectives and essays that highlight the work of your organization work particularly well here.

Promotion

Our editors will choose posts to display and feature on the blog and will decide which posts receive “top billing” on the homepage’s rotator feature. Additionally, the Reform Movement will promote selected posts via its social media channels, including but not limited to: